With the attributes that you're looking for, I think that aesculus pavia is probably a better choice. It's very similar to aesculus carnea, but you don't have to buy it from a nursery. Just get some seeds from a friend and toss them into the ground.

Good Luck

Isn't Aesculus pavia MORE suspectible to both leaf blotch and scorch?

Aesculus x carnea 'O'Neill Red' .. pay the piper. get a good named one.. someone suggested another.. but i dont recall the name

ken
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Ken, amazing photos!

I should have mentioned I was looking at the cultivar "Briotii"

'Ft. McNair' is reported to be somewhat less susceptible to leaf scorch than 'O'Neill Red' and 'Briotii'.

Scorch aside there is still the problem of the tree presenting faux red flowers against dark green leaves:

"Except to some extent in the cultivar 'Briotii', the foliage is dark and the flowers are not a pure color, so the tree should be used for occasional variation and not for massed effect"

--Mitchell/Jobling, Decorative Trees for Country, Town and Garden (1984, HMSO Books, London)

Doesn't make anything like as large or shapely a tree as A. hippocastanum - the thin trunk is never straight, always bent, often leaning somewhat. Also, at least over here, very commonly infected by a canker which causes ugly wounds and 'sore spots' on the trunk and major branches with thick black bark encrustation around the canker.

Ditto to Bboy on the rather muddy red flowers. Also, as visible in the pics above, the leaves are rather crumpled and not anything to get excited about when the tree is out of flower. The most attractive species for foliage are Aesculus flava and Aesculus indica.

Resin

Does anyone want to guess why no one takes a pic of red horsechestnut in August/September?

because their 7 year old.. broke off a main branch playing monkey????

trust me... the flowers never look like the pix .... except in the most perfect moment of light .... they do tend to look much pinker in full sunshine .... the camera did a nice job making them red

ken

I'm defintly not worried about the true color.

I just want to pick one of he best Aeculus for leaf scorch and blotch.

Those of too culprets of Aesculus looking terrible in August/September.

I just want more trees with a coarse texture yeilding an ornamental feature. Maybe I go back to the Flava/Octandra or one of its hybrids.

Wow, repost:

I'm defintly not worried about the true flower color.
I just want one of the best Aeculus varieties for leaf scorch and leaf blotch resistance.

Both scorch and blotch seem to be the culprets of the terrible looking foilage in August/September. But the question is, is it really as common in the midwest as mentioned on the web (specifically Aesculus x carnea's cultivars)?

Maybe I need to go back to the Flava/Octandra or one of its hybrids. But only if its a better choice from a disease and pest resistance perspective over a Yellowwood.

Have you looked into Aesculus 'Autumn Splendor'? I think its a hybrid of glabra & flava, so flowers will be more on the yellow side. It was selected by the U of Minnesota for its resistance to scorch and nice fall color. It has become fairly common over the past few years. I don't have one myself, but I've seen it offered at various retail outlets in the Twin Cities. Johnson probably has it.

when are you going to get around to this one???

ken
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Outside of Briotii, I've considered Homestead and Autumn Splendor. I'm finding (web research) that their flowers are much more inconspicous.

Nurseries sell them around here and but they run out quick (so I can't look at them in late summer). I also have NEVER seen one planted in a home landscape before.

I've only seen one Aesculus planted outside a firestation and its leaves are all brown in early Septemeber.

refresh my memory... and add it to your info... where are you in z5????

what is the big deal.. that a tree browns in sept in z5 .. when the leaves all fall off 30 days later????

do all the leaves in your yard.. have to turn color and fall off all at the same time...

btw.. that is not a quercus above ...

ken

Yellow buckeye is quite handsome.

Ken, what is that picture of?

I guess brown is a color too.

It will be a game time decision in spring between Briotii and a Yellow Buckeye hybrid (quality branching structure will win)

One of Ken's diseased maples. If that's all he has of maples, I don't blame him for detersing them ;-)

Resin

Acer pseudoplatanus cultivar(s). One on the general market of this type is 'Esk Sunset', from New Zealand and named after the Esk Valley. Frequently listed wrongly as 'Eskimo Sunset'.

Here's what one source says about 'Homestead':
"Aesculus x 'Homestead' (A. flava x A. glabra) bred at South Dakota State Univ by Dr. Norman Evers, leaf color dark green, scorch and mildew resistant, flowers creamy yellow much like A. glabra, fruitless and therefore mess free, fall color dark red to orange shades."

One Ohio nursery owner I've spoken to feels Homestead may have the best foliage of the Aesculus he's grown. I haven't seen it for sale here in SE Michigan.

One of the local growers in my area has 'Autumn Splendor' in his fields - my observation has been that fall foliage quality and color is not as good as advertised.

Another species you might consider (that I've seen at 2 different locations in NE Ohio) is Aesculus chinensis. I haven't seen it in flower or in fall, but the summer foliage is very attractive. I've heard that the flowers are outstanding. Not sure about hardiness farther north.

Others may have more experience with/input on chinensis. It is probably one of the most impressive of the Aesculus, but it may be difficult to obtain.

How do you measure the resistance to scorch and leaf blotch on trees?? I think it all just depends on the weather and the amount of sunlight that the plant receives. I think that all types of aesculus are prone to these problems, but when you weigh the positives and negatives of each species/cultivar aesculus pavia comes out on type. It is the ONLY species of aesculus that has TRUE red flowers (as shown in the pics above) and it will tolerate a lot more than other aesculus species will. Also, I haven't heard anything about aesculus pavia having problems with leaf blotch and leaf scorch. I think that somebody is just making this up. I want to know where you're getting your info from.

Sure, weather and lack of cultural requirements will stress a tree and make them more suseptible to various pests and diseases. Measuring resistance could be a whole new topic.

I can't comment on Aesculus Pavia's flower color (which I'm not too concerned about). Since this variety is more finicky about moisture and sunlight it is known to scorch and defoliate by late summer.

Aesculus x carnea is considered superior to both its parents, one of which is Aesculus Pavia, for general landscape use.

Where does it say that aesculus carnea is considered "superior" to its parents. I'm not seeing this anywhere. The main reason I'm recommending aesculus pavia is because its susceptibility to problems is no greater than any other plant we've talked about so far (as far as I know).

Aesculus pavia (gives thumbs up)
Aesculus carnea (gives thumbs up)

Now, since they tie in susceptibility to problems, we move on to flowers. Aesculus pavia has much brighter red flowers and there are more of them and they are attractive to hummingbirds! Aesculus carnea has flowers but they are not bright red, they do not attract hummingbirds, and there aren't as many as aesculus pavia.

Aesculus pavia (gives thumbs up)
Aesculus carnea (gives thumbs down)

I'll be sure to check out Pavia this upcoming spring to check out the flowers.

I believe M. Dirr talks about Pavia in one of his popular books.

Aesculus pavia is of course a shrub, so it doesn't really make a good landscape tree. But as a shrub, it is definitely nicer than its hybrid progeny. Ditto to perennialfan on the thumbs up/down ratings for these two.

Resin

Yeah, I probably should have mentioned this as a full sun location. And I need a tree at least 30' x 30'.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Its good to hear more about these plants.

The nurseries are pretty much worthless around here.

Being half common horsechestnut red horsechestnut is more showy than red buckeye, it inheriting some of the largeness of parts of common horsechestnut. Red buckeye produces tubular-looking flowers that some probably find unimpressive. Another factor that may sometimes have an effect on how it is perceived by gardeners is that its flower color varies, with some plants not being red-flowered.

Which is closer to the 30' desired height depends on how long you want to wait, where happy enough red buckeye grows that tall and taller in time. Red horsechestnut has grown more than double that height in some locations.

bboy was right on the eskimo sunset..

ken